Gabby Gootee, an 11-year-old fifth grader at Porter Lakes Elementary School, was born to sing. “I think Gabby sang before she talked,” said Gabby’s mother. “She would sit in her car seat and sing songs from the radio in near perfect pitch.” Gabby lives in Winfield Township with her mom, dad, two brothers and a shizsu named Jilly. The Gootee home is often filled with music. Her older brother plays electric guitar and drums. Her father sings all the time, and bought the family a real microphone when Gabby was little so they could sing karaoke for fun. Gabby’s parents enrolled her in voice lesson and it wasn’t long before she started auditioning. Her first audition landed her on stage with the Northwest Indiana Symphony under the direction of Maestro Kirk Muspratt in the youth summer concert series. She sang “Rainbow Connection” from The Muppets and took her first standing ovation bow. Gabby has gone on to audition and perform at the discretion of her voice coach, Linda Skidmore. She recently made her music theater debut with the Crown Point Community Theater. She enjoys listening to and singing various musical genres. Gwen Steffani, Fergie and the Dixie Chicks are a few of her favorites.  Besides singing, Gabby plays basketball and enjoys shopping. She loves animals and has had many pets ranging from cats and dogs to iguanas and rabbits.  She aspires to be an American Idol and a veterinarian.

Camille Burnett lives in La Porte with her parents, Gloria and Calvin, sister, Kim, and cats, Buttercup and Apple. She is a student at Crichfield Elementary School. She is a member of the Young Peoples Theatre Company and Dunes 11 Black Volleyball team. She is absolutely thrilled to be part of this event because she loves to sing. She would like to thank her family and friends for all of their support. She would also like to thank Sue Roselli for helping her to prepare for this performance.

Jenny Hartson , 17, is a junior at La Porte High School. Her family first discovered she had a talent for singing when she performed “Part of Your World” from the Little Mermaid at the Kingsbury School Talent show at age 10. Since then, she has fallen in love with performing. Jenny was a soloist at the La Porte Hospital Foundation’s Holiday at the Pops concert in December of 2006 and was thrilled to sing on the stage of the Civic Auditorium for the first time. She was inducted into the Tri-M Music Honor Society in February and has participated in the Indiana State School Music Association contests, receiving gold rankings the past three years. In 2005, she had the opportunity to sing at Carnegie Hall with the LPHS Treble Chorale. Jenny has been in the cast of several musicals at La Porte Little Theater and has dabbled in modeling. She is actively involved in the ministry at Bethany Lutheran Church, and currently enjoys singing in the church choir under the direction of Charles Steck. She is also a member of the mixed chorale at La Porte High School, directed by Thomas Coe. Jenny extends a huge thank you to both of her directors, as well as to her voice coach Diane Rosco. Jenny hopes that her future includes singing so she is able to let her passion for Christ shine through her music. She is excited about the possibilities that lay ahead and truly believes in “Defying Gravity”.

Megan Jones, 13, started singing around the house when she was 5 years old. Her mother realized she had a nice voice and bought her a karaoke system.  She soon began singing solos at church. Her Christianity is very important to her and she thanks God for all her blessings and the voice he gave her to use for Him. She would love to become a professional singer. Megan says   Hoosier Star may be a very important stepping stone to her future. Attending college is also very important to her. She would like to get into the fashion industry and learn how to be a designer. She thanks everyone for their support, and for believing in her.

Sarah Kampf, 17, realized she had a passion for music when she was 11 years old and began singing in karaoke contests. She started taking chorus in school every year from that point forward. She received four solos in two years, gaining confidence and interest in pursuing a life of singing. In her freshman year of high school, she was in beginning girls’ chorus. After being in an ensemble that received first place in a Division One contest, she was promoted to chorale. Sarah is proud to be part of the Michigan City High School Chorale. She plans to pursue singing for the rest of her life. Sarah would like to thank her parents, Mr. Kienitz, her friends and all the members of her choral class for supporting her and helping her grow and learn more about music.

Carter Perry, who is an honor student at Boston Middle School in La Porte, participated in the All-State Choir in Indianapolis this year. He was also a member of the Boston Swing Choir and Boston Jazz Band, playing the alto saxophone. Carter loves sports, especially tennis and basketball. He also enjoys working on his grandparents’ dairy farm, working out, reading mysteries and Calvin & Hobbs, and a good laugh.

Rick Barnes was born on October 28, 1958 in St. Joseph, Michigan. He graduated from New Prairie High School in 1976 where he was active in sports and band. He honorably served in the United States Air Force from 1976 to 1980. He’s worked at FedEx for 20 years. Rick enjoys golf, bowling, watching football, playing fantasy football and baseball, spending time at home with his wife, Kathy, and of course, singing. His experience stems from singing Christmas carols around his mother's piano. His father had a tremendous singing voice. Friends and family would gather around the holidays and all would laugh and sing. Better than any present, it remains Rick’s favorite holiday memory. His mom, who recently retired, was a piano teacher her entire adult life. She remains Rick’s hero and inspiration, his faith in what is good and right.

Music has always been a part of Sue McLain'slife. As a child, she played violin and competed in Chicago Public School District competitions. She started singing in school musical productions, and acknowledges the importance of school music programs for fostering our children’s passion for music. Sue began singing Contemporary Christian music, recorded an album in the early ‘90s, and did TV and radio interviews in and around Chicago.  She continues to share her faith through worship at LaPorte Vineyard Church. Sue and her husband, Earl, own several guitars and are always ready for an impromptu ‘jam session’ at their country house. When she’s not singing, Sue and Earl keep busy with their three sons, Patrick, Andy & Adam. She learned to cook from her Sicilian father and grandmother, and loves her flower and vegetable gardens. A dedicated Child Passenger Safety Technician/Instructor, she helps keep LaPorte County’s kids safely buckled up in car seats, and has trained over 500 Indiana police officers to educate families in child passenger safety. Sue is a proud member of the Pleasant Volunteer Fire Department, and dedicates her performance to her firefighter husband and to all the brave men & women with whom she serves alongside.

When Danyelle Gumz was growing up, she loved to listen to her grandfather play the banjo and harmonica. She joined her first school choir in kindergarten and sang her first solo in first grade. In second grade, she took piano lessons for two months and then taught herself how to play songs off the radio. In eighth grade, she sang a solo on a big stage for the first time. Danyelle loves rock and roll. Her favorite band is Fall Out Boy. She said, “I'm very inspired by their style of music and listen to it every day.” She also likes punk and emo. She likes to discover new trendy rock and punk music. She said, “I love it because it's loud and it gets attention.” She sings a lot of country because she finds she can sing it better than other types of music. She often performs at parties and in church. The electric guitar is Danyelle’s favorite instrument. Again, she took lessons for two months, then quit and figured it out on her own. “I'm really a beginner, but I like to pretend I'm a ‘guitar hero,’” she said, smiling. Besides music, Danyelle loves horses. While her grandfather peeked her musical interest, her grandmother introduced her to her life passion for horses when she gave her a pony named Snowflake. Danyelle has shown horses all over the country for 14 years and says she’ll never stop. Her biggest accomplishment in life was showing at the Quarter Horse Congress (the Super Bowl for horses). She spends five hours every day at the barn, cleaning, riding and just sitting around reading. She sings to her horses because she feels better if she can have both music and her horses at the same place at the same. She said, “I couldn't be happier with the way my life turned out so far, and we can only go up from here.” While in high school Danyelle was a two time winner of LaPorte county 4-H Area X talent contest. During her junior year at Columbus State, where she majored in vocal preformance, she was female lead singer for a rock band called The Thirteenth Step. The highlight of her college years was being chosen by her choir director to sing a solo with the Columbus symphony orchestra at the Columbus museum for the city's Christmas program.

Roscoe Hoffman, originally from Durban, South Africa, has had a passion for music since his early years. Since moving to the United States in 1988, Roscoe has helped his father successfully start two churches from ground up while teaching himself to play six instruments. He has been a worship leader for his father since 1998, following the call of God on his life. Roscoe graduated from Purdue North Central with a bachelor’s in communication and has been working at TP Orthodontics for over two years. Roscoe, known for his piano and organ expertise, has performed with different groups in the area as well as in Nashville and Detroit. He has recently recorded a new album with his blues band "The Blud Bros" and another album with La Porte police officer Brian Phillips - which is dedicated to fallen officers.

At the age of 3, Kathy Spiegel picked up her grandfather's violin and started playing tunes by ear.  Realizing that she was musically inclined, she was picked up by the conductor of the Berkeley Symphony Orchestra (in northern California) as his protégé for free lessons and studied diligently for 10 years.  At the age of 13, Kathy began singing and playing the acoustic guitar.  Having had no experience singing in front of an audience, she auditioned for a group called "The Young Americans."  Out of 500 hopeful young teens, she was selected for one of the two openings in the chorus.  As a member of The Young Americans, Kathy toured with Bob Hope doing USO shows and performed with Andy Williams, Raquel Welch, Mahaliah Jackson, The Lawrence Welk Orchestra, Ella Fitzgerald, Lena Horne and many others.  Kathy traveled and performed throughout her high school years with tutors accompanying her. “It was a childhood that I will cherish always,” she said. At the age of 18, she retired from The Young Americans.  She auditioned for a group called "The Young Californians" and was accepted into the group.  They did radio, TV, and personal appearances all over the nation including their own one-hour TV musical filmed in San Francisco called "Summer Celebration with the Young Californians."  Kathy left the group after five years of touring to marry and raise a family.  She put her musical talents on hold for 25 years.  She says, “I'm back! Before I die, my dream is to sing one song with a symphony orchestra. And now I get the chance. I couldn't be happier! I thank God for my talent and the staff of Hoosier Star for this great opportunity!”

Brandon Williams is excited to be a part of this competition. He is no stranger to the stage, but in a different aspect. He has been in a number of plays including Willard Hewitt in “Footloose,” Judah in “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,” Audrey 2 (the plant) in “Little Shop of Horrors,” Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come in “Scrooge,” and chorus in “Beauty and the Beast.” He has also been in the Michigan City High School Chorale for three out of the fours years of his high school career from which he graduated in 2005. He is currently furthering his education at Indiana University Northwest in the field of radiography. Brandon would like to thank God for giving him the gift to sing to share with others, La Porte County Symphony Orchestra for giving him the opportunity to share his gift to a vast number of people, his friends for not getting tired of his singing, and his mom for always supporting him in all of his endeavors.